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UK spy agency stored graphic webcam pics

According to files leaked by the former intelligence contractor, Eric Snowden, between 2008 to 2010, a surveillance program with the codename "Optic Nerve"…

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A British surveillance agency called Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and the US National Security Agency (NSA) stored millions of webcam images from internet users not suspected of any wrongdoing. 

According to files leaked by the former intelligence contractor, Eric Snowden, between 2008 to 2010, a surveillance program with the codename "Optic Nerve" collected images from Yahoo webcam chats. 

The web chats included sexually explicit images. 

The document also estimated 3 to 11 percent of images collected contained "undesirable nudity."  In a six month period alone, the agency stored 1.8 million racy images from Yahoo users.

The sexually explicit material proved to be a problem for GCHQ.  

In one document it states, "Unfortunately, it appears that a surprising number of people use webcam conversations to show intimate part of their body to the other person. Also, the fact that Yahoo allows more than one person to view a webcam stream, means it appears to be used for broadcasting pornography."

GCHQ made no attempts to stop the storage of explicit materials, but it excluded images in which the software did not detect any faces, this prevented many lewd shots from being seen by analysts.  

British and American surveillnace agencies used the "Optic Nerve" to experiment with facial recognition and to target people of interest. 

Currently, there is no restrictions under UK law that prevents British analysts from accessing and storing images of Americans without a warrant. 

In a statement to The Guardian, a spokeswoman from Yahoo strongly condemned the Optic Nerve program, and claimed Yahoo was not aware and had no involvement with GCHQ collection. 

"We were not aware of, nor would we condone, this reported activity," she said. "This report, if true, represents a whole new level of violation of our users' privacy that is completely unacceptable." 

The spokeswoman also added Yahoo's commitment to its users privacy. "We are committed to preserving our users' trust and security and continue our efforts to expand encryption across all of our services."

Bruce Schneier, a security expert told the Guardian, "Is it really okay for a computer to monitor you online, and for that data collection and analysis only to count as a potential privacy invasion when a person sees it? I say it's not and the latest Snowden leaks only make more clear how important this distinction is."

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